SH Season 3
by CarlottaStudios
Summary: In the Far Side, the storm hawks search for Cyclonis to bring her to justice. One thing's for sure: their adventures aren't over yet!
1. Ep 53 Pt 1

**Welcome to the Far Side (part 1)**

* * *

Cyclonis was on a terra in the Far Side. The empress walked slowly, away from the portal she had entered as it closed behind her. The ground was hard as rock, and uncomfortable to walk on. It made her feet ache. Normally, she wouldn't put up with such discomfort. But then again, Cyclonis didn't have much choice. After all, her kingdom had been destroyed, her empire scattered, and her right hand man killed.

And Cyclonis knew whose fault it was: those wretched storm hawks! They were the ones responsible for her defeat. But soon…soon…they would pay.

Just then, three shadows circled above her. Her amethyst eyes watched as they landed their bat-winged skimmers. All three nightcrawlers dismounted and kneeled before her. They then raised their gazes. The one directly in front of Cyclonis had slightly more impressive armor, and, unlike his two fellows, whose eyes glowed violet, his eyes were a brilliant, bloody scarlet.

"Commander Nite," Cyclonis said, addressing the leader. "Report,"

The three soldiers stood, and Commander Nite spoke.

"Our army is in shambles, master." he said in a hissing voice at once similar to that of a snake and a ghost. "There are only a handful of us left, including myself."

"Really?"

The commander nodded.

"What of our resources?" she asked.

Instead of replying, the commander beckoned her to follow. The three shadowy warriors then turned and started walking. Master Cyclonis followed them.

After a minute or so, they arrived at the edge of a cliff. The cliff looked over a large valley very similar to that of Terra Tundras. For the valley down below was a crystal mine. In it, a small number of nightcrawlers were digging out an assortment of different crystals. The shadowy warriors used their claws to dig them out, and some activated their weapons so that crystal snakes inside could tear away the rocks to get to the crystals.

Master Cyclonis observed the scene below with interest, but her thoughts were elsewhere. The battle on Atmos had crippled her forces and brought down her empire. She'd thought that the might of her nightcrawler army and their superior technology would be enough to crush the sky knights. She was wrong. All she had left now were these crystals and the remaining nightcrawlers. She needed time: time to formulate a new plan. But even more: she needed to bring down the storm hawks. Only until they were destroyed could she set her eyes on Atmos once more. And she'd make sure they wouldn't be around to disrupt her schemes anymore.

She turned to the red-eyed nightcrawler.

"The storm hawks are here, in the Far Side." she said. "Doubtless, they will be after me."

Commander Nite nodded his understanding.

"And what do you wish us to do, master?"

Cyclonis smiled a vicious, wolverine smile.

"Send them a little welcome party." she said.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Condor was flying smoothly in the Far Side between the huge stalagmites underneath the strange green sky. Apart from the calls of the flying creatures around them and the humming of the engine, all was quiet. Junko, Radarr and Finn were in the hangarbay, trying to fix the squashed remains of their skimmers. But it was no use. Stork, as usual, was piloting the Condor, looking around jerkily out the windows as though expecting an attack from something.

Aerrow was standing on the Condor's balcony, looking out at the strange tower that loomed in front of them. Just then, he heard the voice of a certain crystal mage:  
"Hi Aerrow,"

He turned to Piper as she walked toward him, a smile on her face.

"Hey," he said simply as she stood beside him. "Weren't you trying to figure out a map?"

Piper sighed.

"I've tried," she said. "But the time-pulse and the navigear aren't working. The compass is okay; it still points north and all; but the only landmark we have is that tower."

She pointed to the tower, toward which the flying creatures all seemed to be heading.

"If we lose sight of it, we'll get lost."

"Don't worry." Aerrow said. "Maybe, if the natives are friendly, they'll lend us one of their maps."

"Maybe," she said, but smiling.

After a few moments of silence, Aerrow asked:  
"So, Piper, how have you been lately? You know, with the binding and all."

His companion turned to look at him.

"Actually," she said. "Since you healed me, I haven't felt any better!"

Aerrow smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. After all, I still need you."

Piper looked at him curiously. Aerrow's eyes widened as he realized what he'd said.

"I mean, uh, the team! The team needs you-w-WE need you!"

Piper giggled at the sky knight's stuttering.

"You know what I mean." Aerrow said. "Also, what was that thing Cyclonis said…perfect atunement or something?"

The navigator nodded, looking serious.

"Do you know what it means?"

Piper shrugged.

"I have no idea." she said. "But whatever it is, I hope that it'll help defeat…"

She was interrupted when the ship was suddenly hit by something very fast and very strong. It shook violently, and Aerrow and Piper were flung off their feet from the force of the collision.

"We've been hit!" Stork yelled, a tad unnecessarily. "I knew it! I knew that we were doomed if we went to the Far Side!"

"Okay Stork, we get it!" Finn yelled, sounding annoyed, before something else rammed the ship and sent him flying off his feet.

He slammed into the wall. As he looked up, he screamed as Junko came crashing into him as Radarr too landed against the wall, his eyeballs rolling comically around.

"Oops! Sorry Finn!" the wallop said, peeling the sharpshooter off of him.

Finn groaned painfully.

"What could've hit us?" Aerrow asked back on the balcony as he picked himself up from the ground.

On the bridge, Stork gasped.

"I think they did!" he said, pointing at something in the distance.

Aerrow and Piper looked up. A creature passed by the Condor. It was about 20 feet long, was covered in green, diamond-hard scales, and had a long tail, powerful legs, a nose horn like a wallop, several pairs of small, straight, dark green horns, gleaming yellow eyes and huge wings. And as it roared at them, the two could see its sharp teeth.

The sky knight and crystal mage gasped: It was a dragon! And there was someone sitting astride it!


	2. Ep 53 Pt 2

**Welcome to the Far Side (part 2)**

* * *

The green dragon circled the Condor, roaring ferociously and rammed its head against the ship. Although it was much smaller than the Condor, it dealt a lot of damage.

"This is impossible!" Piper said as she and Aerrow ran into the hangarbay. "Dragons are supposed to be almost extinct!"

"Well, it doesn't look that 'extinct' to me Piper!" said Finn.

He couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Piper was wrong about something. Piper growled in frustration and annoyance at the boy, rolling her eyes.

"Now's not the time Finn!" Aerrow called. "Let's just get on our rides and try to drive them off!"

Finn and Junko looked over at the sky knight.

"Um, Aerrow," Finn said. "We would love to do that, but…our rides are trashed! Remember?!"

Aerrow halted.

"Oh! Right!" he said, grinning sheepishly and apologetically.

He then pulled out his twin blades.

"We'll just have to fight 'em off without rides!"

Radarr screeched in surprise. Finn and Junko looked at each other. Was he nuts? But nonetheless, they rushed to the canons and started to blast at the creature.

"Are you sure about this Aerrow?" Piper asked as she pulled out a green crystal.

The sky knight looked at her nervously.

"Not entirely!" he said. "But it's better than nothing!"

At the canons, Finn and Junko shot blast after blast at the monster. The beast looked just like Rinjin's dragon ship, except that it was much smaller. And even faster! It easily weaved between the blasts like a thread passing through the eyehole of a needle. On its back, the mysterious rider held up a staff with a green crystal at the end, twirled it around and shot a blast of green energy at the Condor! It rocked the ship, and Finn nearly fell out of the chair of his canon.

"Whoa!" he said as the ship righted itself. "This guy's tough!"

He shot several blasts at the dragon, who closed its wings, forming a shield-like cocoon for itself and its rider. As the wings unfolded, the dragon growled, and the rider, whose face, except for its bright purple eyes, was hidden by its helmet, frowned. The animal dove at the ship and whacked its long tail against Finn's canon, dislodging the sharpshooter!

"FINN!" Aerrow and Junko cried.

The blond flew screaming through the air, but luckily, Aerrow and Junko (who had left his canon) caught him before he fell off the side of the Condor.

Quickly, they pulled him back up, and Junko passed him his crossbow. The wallop then hefted his portable canon in his arms and blasted at the enemy. Aerrow activated his blades and sent a few good shots at the monster. Piper, using the power of the green crystal, created a shield over the Condor to block the rider's attacks, while allowing the storm hawks' attacks to pass through.

But the rider had another trick up its sleeve. Frowning determinedly, it leaped out of its saddle…and two large, white-feathered WINGS unfolded from its back!

"Huh?!" Finn exclaimed.

He blinked and rubbed at his eyes with a fist, thinking he hadn't been looking properly. But the wings were real, he realised as he stared dubiously up the warrior.

Aerrow gasped in surprise and awe.

"Are those…" he started, but he was cut off when Piper cried out:  
"Guys, look out!"

That shook the sky knight out of his trance, and he realised something: the winged figure had started to glow green! As though it were performing a "special move"! It opened its closed eyes, now two orbs of blazing green light, and twirled around in mid-air. As it faced the Condor again, it swung its staff over its shoulder, almost like a baseball bat, then pointed it at the ship! A burst of green shot from the staff, and four waves of green crystal energy flew at them, twisting and twirling around each other like a mini tornado!

"EVERYONE, BRACE YOURSELVES!" Piper shouted to the boys.

They crouched, shielding their eyes with their arms as the blast hit Piper's shield with a loud BOOM, accompanied a chorus of CRRR-ACKs!

The shield had held, but only just. Cracks had spread over its surface like a spider web, and Piper was straining from the effort of keeping it from breaking.

"It won't…hold up…for much longer…" Piper panted.

BOOM!

The winged rider fired another attack, which broke the shield, making it shatter into thousands of shards of green energy. The explosion sent Piper flying, crashing into the pile of crushed skyrides. It wasn't the most excellent cushion to break her fall.

Aerrow whirled around; worried Piper might've been hurt. But he was reassured by her saying:  
"I'm okay!"

The winged assailant's eyes flashed with triumph, and it dove at the Condor like a falcon, ready to strike in earnest. But Aerrow shot a lightning claw at the attacker! Its violet eyes opened wide in fear before it was hit by the blast.

"Alright!" Junko cheered.

"Woo-hoo!" Finn crowed. "That'll teach him!"

The figure's flight had been knocked off balance, but the green dragon swooped down so that its rider landed back in the saddle. The reptile glared at the storm hawks, glowing yellow eyes narrowed and smoke puffing angrily from its nostrils.

"But maybe not him…" Finn added weakly.

The creature drew back its head, drawing in a great breath. It was about to breath fire, burning them all in the process!

"TAKE COVER!" Stork, who'd just entered, cried out.

But the dragon stopped when its mysterious rider put a hand on its muzzle. Aerrow, staring up at the sight, frowned in confusion. The rider lept off of the dragon and gently flapped down to the ship. The squadron all watched as it landed, laying down its staff. As the green dragon landed behind the winged individual, the latter removed the silver helmet covering its head and face.

Finn and Junko gapped: the rider was a girl! She was their age, and she wore a patched and stitched brown uniform with darker brown fingerless gloves, boots and a belt with a pouch. Her armor consisted of silver shoulder guards and a silver plate which offered some protection for her chest. There was a small orange band around her forearm which matched her short pale orange hair. Her eyes were the color of lilacs, and she was looking at them with interest and curiosity.

"So, this whole time…" the sharpshooter said. "…we were fighting a GIRL?!"

Piper, standing next to the blond, looked at him.

"You sound so shocked." she said.

"Well, I just…didn't think that girls could fight that well." Finn said, unaware that the words caused Piper to gasp, hugely offended. "…It's actually kind of cool." he added, smiling, not noticing the steam pouring from Piper's ears and the scarlet rage settling on her face.

The furious crystal mage promptly slapped the blond smartly across the face.

"Hey! What was that-?"

"I'm a girl TOO, you know!" Piper snapped.

"Oh, well, I wasn't counting you." Finn said.

He immediately regretted it, as the girl reared over him, growling like an angered lioness, as Finn shrank and whimpered fearfully.

The other storm hawks winced at the racket as Piper pummeled the poor wingman and at his shrieks and screams of pain. While they witnessed the massacre, the winged girl was studying them, her eyes flickering from their weapons to their armor, including the storm hawks symbol on Aerrow's shoulder plate. Finally, she spoke:  
"Excuse me?"

At that, everyone turned to look back at her, even Piper and Finn (the latter was being held by the collar by the former, who'd been about to punch him in the face).

"Would you happen to be a…a sky knight squadron?" asked the strange girl.

"Um, yes, we are." said Aerrow. "We're the storm hawks."

At that, the girl gasped, her eyes filling with wonder.

"Wow!" she said, the awe in her voice evident, her wings quivering with excitement. "That's so cool!"

She stepped forward and extended her hand.

"My name's Kanni. I'm an Avon. And that dragon is my partner, Snapper. It's an honor to meet you!"

"And your way of welcoming strangers is by attacking them out of nowhere?" Stork asked mistrustfully.

Kanni flinched and instantly withdrew her hand, her face awash with guilt.

"Oh, yeah, really sorry about that." she said. "When we spotted you, Snapper and I mistook you for nightcrawlers. We don't get a lot of visitors."

Behind her, Snapper lowered its head, looking almost like a guilty puppy…albeit one with green scales and wings.

"It's alright, we-" Aerrow started, but was cut off when Finn shoved him out of the way.

"Aww, it's nothing!" the blond interrupted with false modesty. "We lead dangerous lives. We get attacked all the time, we're used to it. At least, I am, being the most important member of the team and all."

Aerrow, standing behind Finn with his arms crossed, cleared his throat. Finn turned and saw the sky knight glaring at him. Radarr growled softly from Aerrow's shoulder. Finn gulped.

"I, I mean, SECOND most important member of the team." he corrected, turning back to Kanni.

This made earned an eye-roll from both Aerrow and Radarr.

"So, yeah, no need to apologize." Finn continued. "It's a pleasure to be attacked by you on your lovely little terra. By the way, what was your name again, little lady?"

At that, he bowed and took Kanni's hand, waggling his eyebrows flirtatiously at her. This earned a confused raised eyebrow from the Avon. Snapper, the green dragon, took a heavy, threatening step toward the blond, snarling protectively. Finn immediately backed away, with a terrified look at the dragon teeth.

"It's Kanni." she said, patting Snapper's snout. "And this "lovely little terra" is Terra Emera."

Then, she gasped.

"I almost forgot! I don't even know your names!"

"I'm Aerrow, the sky knight and leader." Aerrow said, introducing himself. "You've already met Finn, the wingman and sharpshooter." Finn, hiding from behind Aerrow, did his "chicka-cha" move at Kanni, winking flirtatiously.

Snapper growled at him again and he ducked out of sight.

"That's Junko, flight mechanic and strongman," Junko smiled shyly to Kanni. "Piper, navigator, tactician and crystal mage," Piper waved in greeting. "Stork, our carrier pilot," Stork just squinted mistrustfully at Kanni and her dragon.

Just then, Radarr climbed on top of Aerrow's head, waving and chirping excitedly, making Aerrow laugh.

"And Radarr," he added, chuckling, "My co-pilot and mission specialist."

Kanni smiled and reached over to pat the sky monkey on the head. Catching sight of the small mammal, Snapper leaned in, curious. Radarr squeaked in fright and hid by clinging to Aerrow's back. But Snapper just sniffed at Aerrow's head, ruffling his ruby hair and tickling the sky knight a little. After a few careful snuffles, the green dragon licked Aerrow, catching the boy quite off-guard and causing him to fall over. Even as he was lying on the ground, Snapper continued to lick him in the way of a large, friendly dog. Poor Aerrow was helpless with laughter, trying unsuccessfully to push the dragon away.

"H-Hey!" he gasped between bursts of laughter. "Stop it! I- I'm ticklish!"

Piper ran over to help the sky knight as Kanni stared, amazed. Finally, Piper gently pushed Snapper's muzzle away, but not before the dragon could give her a lick too.

"That's incredible!" said the Avon when the crystal mage helped Aerrow stand. "I've never seen Snapper bond with a stranger that quickly before! He's usually very territorial and protective, a lot like us Avons."

As she said that, Kanni's face suddenly lit up.

"Hey! You guys should meet the others!"

"The others?" Piper asked, confused.

"The other Avons! Well, those on this terra." Kanni explained. "We live in the temple over there." she added, pointing to the huge city-like structure in the distance. "You should come! We have supplies you might need, and we could help fix your ship…I mean, since I damaged it and all."

Aerrow and Piper smiled at each other. Despite her earlier attack, Kanni was actually really friendly. They didn't see any reason not to trust her.

"Do you have a map?" Piper asked, turning to Kanni.

"And tools to fix our skyrides? And food?" Junko added, dashing forward eagerly.

"All of the above!" Kanni exclaimed. "Snapper!" she called to her dragon. "Lead the way!"

It wasn't necessary, but the dragon nodded and flew off to lead the Condor towards the glowing light in the distance.

"In the meantime, why don't I show you around the ship, huh?" Finn said flirtatiously to Kanni, offering his hand.

Kanni eyed the sharpshooter with an odd expression.

"Umm…"

"Maybe," Aerrow said, sensing Kanni's discomfort. "I could show her around."

Kanni's face instantly brightened.

"Awesome!" she said, accompanying Aerrow into the ship. "It'll be so great to spend time with an actual sky knight! We don't have any in Avon culture."

"Really?!" Aerrow asked, surprised.

Piper smiled and followed them inside. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of his situation. She was really excited to find out as much as she could about Avons and was itching to write something down in one of her innumerable journals. Just then, Stork gave her a little nudge, causing her to look at him.

"Umm, is Aerrow sure that we can trust these "Avons"?" he asked in a conspiratorial whisper. "This one seems a little fishy to me."

"Everything seems fishy to you, Stork." the crystal mage pointed out as they entered the bridge.

Then, they spotted Kanni. She was ogling at the time-pulse beacon, pressing her face to it and making her nose look 3 times larger than it actually was. Piper smiled at Stork.

"Besides, I think she's pretty harmless." she said.

Stork frowned and slunk back to the steering wheel, muttering under his breath.

"So this is a time-pulse beacon?" Kanni asked, turning to Aerrow. "It's what you use to navigate, right?"

"That's it!" Aerrow said. "How did you know?"

"Oh, we have books about Atmos that tell us some things, mostly just basic stuff." said Kanni. "A lot of it is kinda weird if you ask me." she added, standing up and walking over to the couch. "Like, I still don't get the whole sky knight thing, because we don't need any."

"You don't?" Junko asked. "But then, who's gonna protect your terras?"

"We protect ourselves, of course!" Kanni beamed.

Junko blinked, still looking confused.

"You see," Kanni explained, "we Avons are a warrior people. We all have our own weapons, and the skills to use them. You saw that for yourself out there. Plus, we've all got those same special moves you sky knights have."

"Really?!" Aerrow asked, very excited to hear this.

Kanni nodded.

"Yup!" she said. "Every Avon has a different one. I call mine the "Wind Blades"."

"That's incredible!" Aerrow said.

Kanni nodded.

"I could show you the others' moves if you want!" she said, rummaging in her pouch.

"You might want to do that later." Stork said.

They all looked at him. The merb pointed outside.

"We're here."

The squadron rushed to the window and gasped in awe.

The temple looked more like a city than a single building. It was composed of several towers, all surrounding a taller, central tower. Large clusters of green crystals, each crystal about the size of the ship, were embedded in the walls, and long green lines ran along its surface, like veins of green blood. About halfway up the central tower, surrounded by a ring of columns holding the two halves of the tower in place, there was a gigantic green crystal. It was about twice the size of the Condor, and shone so brightly that they had to squint to see it properly, and it hurt to look at it for more than a few seconds. In all, it was quite the sight to behold.

"Wow!" Piper breathed. "It's so beautiful!"

"It's too bright!" Finn complained, earning a glare from Piper.

"I could stare at this all day." Junko breathed reverently.

"Then prepare to go blind." Finn muttered, but stopped when Piper literally growled at him.

Kanni giggled at the frightened look on Finn's face, but the laughter peeted out. She gasped, her face bearing an expression of horror. Aerrow noticed this and was concerned.

"Is something wrong, Kanni?" he asked.

Instead of answering, she pointed outside. Aerrow turned to look at the direction she was pointing, and gasped too. Two of the towers had been knocked over and reduced to little more than rubble. And, now that they had flown closer, some of the other towers looked a little worse for wear too, with cracks spider-webbing along the stone and holes in the pointed spires. The storm hawks watched mournfully as they passed over the sad remains of one of the crashed towers.

"What's happened here?" Kanni asked, in obvious distress. "I was only gone for a few days, what could've…"

The squadron turned to her in shock.

"A few days?!" Finn asked.

Kanni nodded.

"I wasn't on recon when I found you guys." she said. "I told you that we've been attacked a lot, so Snapper and I went to find reinforcements about 2 days ago. But I don't understand what could've happened here in that time."

She hesitated, staring out dejectedly at the rubble, then said:  
"We've got to find the others!"

Aerrow nodded.

"She's right." he said. "Stork! Take us down!"

The merb saluted before tilting the steering wheel forward. The ship sank slowly through the air as Stork looked for a place to land.

"Let's land over there!" Piper said, pointing at a large balcony not too far away.

"Nice and easy, Stork." Aerrow said, although it wasn't necessary.

The pilot knew his job, and he expertly landed the ship onto the balcony. Snapper wheeled over them before landing beside the large door leading inside the temple. The ramp was lowered and Kanni ran out, past Snapper and pushed the heavy doors open. The storm hawks followed quickly behind.

They ran through a short, narrow hallway which opened out into an enormous room. Everyone suddenly stopped short and gazed at their surrounding in amazement. They were standing on a balcony facing a wide open room. It had no floor that they could see and open doorways in the circular walls. But there was nothing to walk on. That didn't seem a problem for Kanni though. She just jumped off the edge of the balcony and spread her wings.

"Kanni, wait!" Aerrow called out.

The Avon halted and turned around.

"There's no place to walk! And we can't fly!"

"Right! Sorry!" Kanni said, smacking herself in the forehead.

She flew back down to them, flapping her great white wings to hover in front of the balcony.

"Okay," she said, "I can only carry one of you. The rest will have to ride on Snapper. Piper, you're with me."

"Actually, I can fly on my own." Piper said, pulling out her green crystal.

Kanni blinked, then shrugged.

"Alright," she continued, "then I'll take Stork."

The merb had been staring nervously over the edge of the railing-less balcony when Kanni spoke. At the mention of his name, his ears perked up and his pupils shrunk.

"Wait, what?" he asked, but it was too late.

Kanni flew behind him, looped her arms under his and hoisted him up. He instantly began to scream as she zoomed upwards, carrying him with her. Finn and Junko looked over at Snapper and, hesitantly mounted him. When Junko sat down on his back, Snapper whimpered and his knees almost gave way beneath him. Clearly, he wasn't used to carrying wallops.

"Sorry." Junko apologized to the dragon.

Aerrow thought he'd better get on Snapper's back quick before his legs collapsed and hopped on in front of Finn and Junko, Radarr hanging on his back. Then he turned to Piper.

"You'll be alright following us?" he asked.

She gave him a playful smirk and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll be fine." she said. "You just worry about keeping up."

And, just like that, she was off, flying after Kanni like a speeding bullet. The boys' eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"She's spending way too much time with you." Finn said to Aerrow, but his words got lost as Snapper took off after the two flying figures, and the final "you" dissolved into a girlish scream.

They flew up as Kanni halted before an opening near the ceiling.

"Let's split up!" she said. "We'll cover more ground!"

They all nodded and flew off in different directions.

* * *

Piper flew through several tunnels which finally opened into an even taller room than the one they'd started out in. She looked around her.

"There's nothing in here!" she called down one of the tunnels, her voice echoing in the large empty space, before zooming off down another passageway.

* * *

Kanni wheeled outside around the temple. Dangling from her arms, Stork scanned the area, whimpering in terror.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat, Stork!" said Kanni.

That made Stork indignant enough to snap out of his trance of fear.

"I am NOT a scaredy cat!" he said.

Then he shielded his eyes and scanned the area. Nothing. He shook his head at Kanni, who nodded glumly and flew back inside.

"No luck in the courtyard!" the merb called out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aerrow, Finn and Junko were examining a smaller room on the ground level while Snapper and Radarr waited outside. The wallop spotted a small pot sitting on a counter. Curious, he looked inside.

"I don't see anything in here." Finn said to Aerrow. "Except for this sort of fireplace," he added, bending down and looking at a knee-high hole in the wall filled with a bunch of orange crystals. "What kind of room do you think this is?" he asked.

The sky knight was about to reply when a loud burp drew their attention. They both looked at Junko. The wallop was holding the by-now almost-empty pot and had a substantial amount of sticky, bright yellow stuff flecked with green around his mouth. Whatever it was, it glowed like crystals.

"You guys should try this stuff! It's good!" said Junko, reaching into the pot and pulling out a bunch of glowing yellow powder with green fleck.

As he spoke, they could see that eating that stuff made the inside of his mouth glow neon yellow. Finn stared dubiously at the food.

"I think that we're in the kitchen." Aerrow said. "Anyway, there's nothing here. We should move elsewhere."

The other two nodded, following him outside, Junko bringing the pot of powdery stuff with him.

* * *

Everyone met up in the great hall, a fairly large room decorated with dark green tapestries and statues of Avons and dragons made carved from pale, smooth stone or chiseled crystal. Kanni was pacing restlessly.

"I don't get it." she said. "The temple must've been attacked while Snapper and I were away, but where would the other Avons had gone? They wouldn't just leave the terra undefended. So where could they be?"

Snapper, curled up beside the group, let out a sad croon. The storm hawks glanced at each other, and Junko took a pensive bite of his glowing snack. None of them knew how to answer that question, or how to comfort the distressed Kanni. Finn, however, didn't seem too perturbed. He was leaning against a wall, examining his nails. He yawned and said:  
"Ah, I'm sure we'll find them sometime. Maybe we could just take a break and then-"

As he spoke, he shifted his position and placed a hand on a nearby statue. It was about waist-high, made of pale stone, and was carved in the shape of a standing dragon with its wings unfolded and its tail curled around its feet. The eyes of the dragon were made from green crystal, and there was a diamond pattern running down its back. Finn had placed his hand on the large diamond on the dragon's head. As he did so, the diamond sank down like a button. Everyone's eyes opened wide at the sound of grinding gears, and then, suddenly, the floor underneath them opened up! It was a trapdoor, and they plunged, screaming, into the dark abyss below. Snapper let out a roar and tried to pull them back out, but it was too late. As they disappeared, the two sections of floor closed once more, trapping them and their screams under the temple.


	3. Ep 53 Pt 3

**Welcome to the Far Side (part 3)**

* * *

The gang fell screaming down an incredibly, unbelievably long and very dark tunnel. The deeper they went, the darker it got. And the steeper the tunnel became too. It twisted and turned, even doing a few loops, going further under the temple. Finally, they came flying out in a pitch-black, cavernous room. There were a lot of sounds of confused Bangs and Bonks as they landed heavily on the stone-hard floor.

"Oww!" Aerrow groaned.

He sat up and rubbed his head, even though he couldn't see a darn thing in this blackness. Only his eyes were visible. Over his shoulder, a large pair of bulging yellow eyes opened, whirling around dizzily, accompanied by a whimper.

"Are you okay, Radarr?" Aerrow asked the animal.

Radarr's eyes closed as he furiously shook his head, dislodging the dizziness. Then he squawked in a manner that said: "yes". Aerrow then looked around. Nothing but blackness. He called out:  
"Is everyone okay?"

He was answered by several groans and mutters as the others rubbed at their sore body parts from when they landed.

"Everyone: sound off!"

"I'm over here!" Piper called. "But I must've dropped my staff! I can't find it!"

"I think that landing broke my butt!" Finn complained loudly. "And I lost my crossbow!"

"I'm okay! And I still have my knucklebusters!" said Junko.

"What about you, Stork? Are you alright?"

"By some miracle; yes, Aerrow, I am." stated the merb, gloomily. "I think Kanni's been knocked out."

"I was not!" yelled the Avon girl.

"Where are you guys? I can't see a thing in here!" Junko called out.

"Can't you give us some light, Piper?" asked Finn.

"No, I can't reach my crystals in this darkness!"

"Hang on!" said Aerrow.

Somehow, he hadn't lost his weapons. He took out of the blades from its holster on his back and activated it. The bright blue light didn't illuminate much, but now at least he could see past his nose. He activated his other blade, and held the two up high so everyone could see.

Finn rubbed his eyes and started running towards him. Junko banged his fists together, adding a green light to the place, and followed suit. Piper took the opportunity to get a crystal out of the pouch around her waist. It was her Solaris crystal. She lit it up, then walked towards the others, joining her crystal's comforting golden light to that of Aerrow's twin swords and Junko's busters. Stork and Kanni approached as well.

"So, where are we now?" asked the sky knight once they were all gathered together.

"In the caverns under the temple." said Kanni. "But darn; I forgot about that trapdoor! I thought it didn't work anymore!"

"Well, that's great." said Stork. "Now we're trapped underneath the only landmark we can trace in the Far Side, with no way of getting out, and our only light being a crystal and the only weapons we haven't lost."

"There's at least one good thing about this situation." Piper countered.

They all looked at her and Stork scoffed disbelievingly.

"And what is that?"

"There's a chance that we can find Kanni's friends down here!" said the crystal mage.

"I hadn't thought about that!" said the Avon, instantly brightening. "These caves don't go too far! Let's go and find them!"

Suddenly, there was a strange sound, like metal hitting the stone floor. Everyone looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise.

"Unless something finds us first," Finn whimpered.

Everyone was on edge. They were undefended and virtually blind. The other Avons might be down here, but what else could be hiding in the darkness?

"Everyone, get behind me." Aerrow whispered.

They did, keeping their backs to each other, even Kanni, who drew out her staff. Her wings were trembling nervously. Aerrow took a few steps forward, holding his swords in front of him in case of danger. Then, there was the sound of footsteps. Aerrow snapped into motion. He leapt towards the sound and released a blast from his blades.

"WHOA!" cried a voice.

The blast briefly illuminated a tall figure, but with a great flap, he disappeared and the blast continued on before hitting a wall on the other end of the cave.

"Easy kiddo!" said the figure, landing in front of Aerrow. "We're not gonna hurt you!"

Aerrow could make out the person's features now. It was a male adult Avon with dark reddish brown wings. He had short, dark red hair, dark green eyes, a green headband that circled his brow, and a beard covering his chin. He wore silver shoulder, arm guards and a silver chest plate over a pale colored shirt with patches and short torn sleeves. Behind Aerrow, there was a squeal of delight from Kanni.

"Cassiel!" she cried, running past Aerrow to hug the Avon.

The tall male smiled and hugged her back.

"Kanni?" called another voice. "Is that you?"

Cassiel set Kanni down and they both turned. Another figure was approaching. It was a dragon. As it got closer, though, three Avons dismounted it.

The first was a boy Kanni's age. His uniform was almost identical to hers, except that it was blue, and his tunic was dark grey. His hair was black, and his eyes were bright, cyan blue. The crystal at the end of the staff he carried was also bright blue, and his wings were raven black.

Next one was a female. She was about Starling's age, or slightly older, but she had long silver hair. Her wings were stormy grey, and over her blue uniform, she wore a dark blue vest, boots, gloves and a belt on which were attached two small curved blades, like small cutlasses. Her head was covered with a silver helmet that left half of her face in shadow. She looked tough, but feminine.

The last one wore no armor, and her uniform was white. On top of that, she wore a bright blue tunic. Her gloves and boots were bright blue too. Her wings were white, like Kanni's, but they were so white, they almost glowed. Her hair was long and blond, her bangs hanging over her face, and blue headband circled around her forehead.

"Ash!" exclaimed Kanni, running to the boy.

They hugged briefly, but tightly. It was almost like watching a girl reunite with her boyfriend after a long separation. Then, Kanni (who seemed to be quite a hugger) hugged the silver-haired woman.

"Aaliyah!" she said, joyfully. "And Opal!" she cried before hugging the blond Avon.

Opal appeared taken aback by the hug, and moved her hands around before finding Kanni's body and hugging back. Kanni then pulled away, turning back to the storm hawks and beaming happily at them.

"These are Cassiel, Aaliyah, Ash and Opal. Plus Opal's seeing-eye dragon Misty." she said, introducing them to the squadron. "Guys, these are the storm hawks. They're a sky knight squadron from Atmos!"

Ash and Opal's eyes widened. Opal's eyes were blank.

'That and the fact she had a seeing-eye dragon must mean she's is blind.' Piper reasoned.

Aaliyah, however, seemed more confused than impressed with the squadron.

"But if they're from Atmos," she asked, raising an eyebrow, "what are they doing here, on Terra Emera, in the Far Side?"

Kanni flinched.

"Oops," she said. "I kinda forgot to ask them about that."

The silver-haired Avon rolled her eyes.

"Typical," she muttered.

"Calm down Aaliyah." said the bearded Avon, Cassiel. "Let's not be too harsh. It wouldn't the first time Kanni forgot something." he added, grinning.

This earned a frown from the aforementioned Kanni. Cassiel then looked at the storm hawks.

"But now about our question: if you are from Atmos, why're you here?"

"It's a bit of a long story." Aerrow said, scratching the back of his head. "But, in short: an empress called Master Cyclonis used Far Side technology to conquer Atmos, but we were able to fight her off, and now she's come back here."

Ash's eyebrows shot upward.

"Did you say Master Cyclonis?" he asked.

"Yeah," Finn interjected. "Do you know her?"

"Only too well." said Cassiel. "You see, several weeks ago," he began, "we detected a dark presence entering the Far Side, accompanied by a few nightcrawlers. But, as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared into an area past the known Far Side, where we couldn't track it. At first, we supposed that it wouldn't pose a threat to us, but then Avons began to disappear. A few scouts were sent to the source of the dark presence to investigate. None of them made it back. We don't know why she's hunting us, but it seems like your Master Cyclonis wants us Avons out of the way, or extinct."

"That sounds like Cyclonis." Junko said, nodding sadly.

Radarr whimpered sadly. The storm hawks had heard of terrible things that Cyclonis had done, but to actually try to wipe out an entire civilisation? It was too cruel.

"We're some of the only Avons left." Kanni said, putting a hand on Misty's muzzle. "Most of our terras have been destroyed too, and even a lot of our dragons are gone. So we could really use some help. That's one of the reasons I was so happy to meet you. If you're a sky knight squadron, that must mean that you fight off evil-doers like Cyclonis, so maybe if we joined together, we could beat her."

Aerrow looked over at Piper. Kanni's voice was filled with so much hope and desperation that they couldn't back down now. They nodded simultaneously, and smiled back at the Avons.

"We won't let her get away with what she did to your people. That's why we're here: to bring her to justice once and for all; for her crimes against Atmos and the Avons." Aerrow said.

"Yeah! We won't let her do that bad stuff to you!" Junko said. "She's going down!" he added, banging his fists together again for emphasis, causing a few green sparks from the busters.

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Finn said.

Radarr screeched excitedly in agreement. The young Avons whooped and high-fived while Misty let out a happy growl. Even Aaliyah's hard expression softened a little.

"Well then, since we're both fighting the same enemy, I'd say that makes us allies!" said Cassiel, approaching Aerrow and reaching out to shake the sky knight's hand.

But when they shook, Aerrow felt the life being squeezed out of his hand. His face bore a comical expression of pain, and you could hear the sound of his hand being slightly crushed. The other storm hawks winced, their eyes wide.

"It would be an honor to fight alongside your squadron," said the male Avon, seemingly oblivious to Aerrow's pain. "If you're determined enough to follow her into our realm to bring her to justice, that makes you strong of heart and soul. I like that in a warrior!"

Aerrow smiled feebly at the praise, but the smile didn't quite reach his green eyes. Thankfully, Cassiel let go at that moment, releasing the boy's hand from his. Aerrow clutched his throbbing hand and Radarr, on his shoulder, eyed it worriedly. It was pulsing gently, and slightly redder than normal. Man, Cassiel sure was strong! Almost as strong Junko, if not stronger!

"Now," said Cassiel, rubbing his hands together, "how's about we celebrate this occasion with a good old-fashioned feast, huh?"

The statement caused Finn and Junko to perk up like bloodhounds who'd caught the scent of a roasting steak.

"Feast!?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

Piper rolled her eyes as the group started walking. They were following Aaliyah, who had activated one of her daggers to light the way.

"Of course!" Kanni said happily, not noticing Piper's eye-roll. "Feasts are always part of Avon celebrations! Just wait 'til you taste some fried salalizards! They're a bit spicy, but they have a nice crunch! And you have GOT to eat have some crystal curry! It's kinda sticky, but it tastes great!"

"Hey, I had a bowl of sticky stuff before we fell into the tunnel!" said Junko. "Was that crystal curry?"

"If it was bright yellow and green, then yes!" said Kanni.

They continued talking as the group walked down the length of the cavern. The dim light from Aaliyah's blade acted as a torch as they went, and it lit up a strange sight. The walls of the cavern were carved with scenes of Avons and dragons. The pictures were surrounded by strange runes, in a language nobody could discern.

"What do you think it means?" Aerrow asked Piper, whispering so as not to cause an echo.

"I don't know." Piper whispered back. "It could be the Avons' history, but who knows? I don't recognize that language."

"It's ancient Avian, the language that used to be spoken by Avons before we changed to Atmosian." Opal suddenly spoke.

The two storm hawks jumped slightly. Opal must've heard them talking.

"But good luck translating it. Very few Avons know how to decode it anymore."

"Do you know what it means?" Piper asked.

At this, Opal turned to look at their general direction. Her gaze was off by a few feet, though.

"Some of it." she said.

"But how?" Aerrow asked. "Aren't you…well…"

"Blind?"

Aerrow felt guilty for bringing it up, but Opal didn't seem to mind. She approached the wall, bumping into it, before running her hands over some runes. She traced them with her fingers, then said;  
"This is a line from a poem. It was carved by the initial inhabitants of Terra Emera I'd say about…one thousand years ago."

"Wow!" Aerrow said, marveling at Opal's skill.

"A thousand years ago?" Piper asked. "You mean Terra Emera wasn't always inhabited by Avons?"

"No, it wasn't." Ash piped up. "We only came to this terra about a year ago. The temple was already here when we arrived. The ones who built it must've been very advanced for their time. These caverns alone probably took years to dig out-"

"And that concludes today's history lesson, courtesy of professor Ash." interrupted Cassiel.

Everyone laughed, except for Ash, who pouted at the Avon for cutting him off.

"All right, everyone." Aaliyah said from the front, pointing ahead. "We've reached the exit."

Everyone looked forward, to where Aaliyah was pointing. In the light of her blade, they saw…a dead end.

"Um, THIS is the exit?!" Finn asked incredulously.

"Just step onto this rune." said Aaliyah, pointing to the ground at an enormous circular rune.

Everyone did so, some more reluctantly than others. Once they were all standing on the circle, Aaliyah grabbed a small lever on the wall next to her.

"Ready?" she asked.

The Avons all nodded. Aaliyah grinned at the storm hawks, who all suddenly felt a sinking feeling in their stomachs. The silver-haired woman winked, then turned back to the lever.

"Wait a minute, I think I've seen this before." said Stork.

Then Aaliyah pulled the lever. The massive rune shot up. Everyone was catapulted skywards, just like Stork's booby trap on the Condor. The storm hawks screamed as they were hurled towards the ceiling, which opened before they could crash into it. Still they shot up, while the Avons and Misty flew gracefully after them. After a moment, they hung in the air, for just a second, before plunging downward. Luckily, the hole leading to the caverns had closed again, and they all landed on the not-so-soft ground.

"Ow," Finn groaned, standing up among the dust raised by their landing.

He was hunched over like an old man, so he put his hands on his hips and, with a sickening CRRRR-ACK, arched his back dramatically to get his bones back in place. The blond sighed in contentment.

"Aaah, much better."

Aerrow stood up, coughing and aching all over, then crouched down and held out his hand to Piper, who was rubbing her forehead to clear away the dizziness from the impact.

"Need a hand?" he asked.

"Thanks." Piper said, accepting it and Aerrow pulled her upright.

Everyone's attention was then drawn to a loud, joyful roar. They looked up. Snapper was flying towards them. Upon seeing him, Misty let out a happy growl. She leaped into the air, flying around him, and the two chirped and growled as though in conversation.

"Hey Snapper!" Ash called to the male dragon. "You certainly missed Misty, didn't ya?"

Snapper let out a soft growl, and the storm hawks could swear that his scales reddened.

"Come on guys! Let's head to the great hall!" said Kanni, gesturing for them to follow her.

"For the feast? Yipee!" Junko cheered.

"Yeah, but first," Finn said as everyone started walking, "do you Avons have a bathroom I could use?"

Everyone laughed so heartily that, as they left, they didn't notice a pair of purple eyes watching them from a safe distance. The nightcrawler growled, then flew off to a mountain on the edge of the terra.

Sitting on their rides, there was a small band of nightcrawlers. The leader, Commander Nite, watched as the scout returned and hissed something to him. He nodded, and took out a crystal. It activated, showing Master Cyclonis's face.

"We've found them, Master." said the nightcrawler.

"Good," said the empress. "Where are they?"

"On Terra Emera. But they're now under the protection of the Avons."

"It doesn't matter. Now we know where they are; there is no escape for them. I'll be sending you some reinforcements now."

At this, Cyclonis's frown deepened.

"Bring them to me. And if the Avons try to fight as well, eliminate them."

"Yes, Master." said Nite.

"And one more thing, Commander," Cyclonis added. "Destroy the temple."

"As you wish, Master." Nite said, bowing his head before Cyclonis's image faded.

He pocketed the crystal and mounted his ride, and the shadowy warriors took off in the direction opposite of the temple. In the distance, an ominous black could was approaching the terra.

* * *

As the gang walked through the temple's hallways, Stork had bombarded the Avons with questions, surprising everyone, because Piper was usually the one dying to gain more information. However, Stork's questions mainly involved ships, to which Cassiel explained that the Avons didn't have any ships, or skyrides. And, in fact, the storm hawks realised that they hadn't seen any form of advanced technology on this terra. That was odd, seeing what kind of weapons Cyclonis had gotten from the Far Side.

"So, let me get this straight…" Stork asked, making the others all look at him. "You Avons have got wings and you ride dragons, but you don't have sky knights, and you apparently also don't have ships or sky rides. Am I missing something?"

"No, I'd say that you covered it." Cassiel said jokingly.

Now the pilot looked dumb-struck. He couldn't understand how these people could travel without ships. And the thought of riding dragons…ugh, you'd need to have mindworms to ask him to do that on a daily basis. Piper also thought it was slightly strange.

"But then, without ships, how do you navigate?" she asked.

"Oh that's easy." Kanni said breezily, waving her hand nonchalantly. "We use our crystal-maps."

"Crystal-maps?" Finn asked.

In response, Kanni reached into her pouch and pulled out a small object.

"Oh, how cute." Stork said sarcastically. "A crystal compass."

It did look a lot like a compass. But it was made of silvery, metallic-looking crystal. In the center, there was a very small turquoise crystal. It had four black arrows sticking out of it, with a small crystal on each end. Kanni pressed the turquoise crystal in the center. Immediately, Stork swallowed his sarcasm.

The crystal had produced a large blue-green, semi-transparent hologram. It was a map! A map of what looked to be the entire Far Side! Spread over the map, there were a few small glowing dots. One of the dots was pulsing gently. The storm hawks gasped. Radarr let out a squeaky chirp, clearly impressed.

"Those dots," Kanni said, pointing to them, "are other crystal-maps. This," she added, pointing to the pulsing dot, "is where I am, well; where the compass is. The crystal-maps pick up some signals from the crystals in all of the terras, creating the map. Thanks to these signals, we can tell where we are."

"That's incredible!" Piper exclaimed, still marveling at this technology. "I mean, we saw the nightcrawlers' weapons, but this is amazing! No wonder Avons are so advanced!"

"We aren't advanced." said Aaliyah, causing everyone to look at her. "Over the years we've been in the Far Side, our culture has declined and most of it is now lost to memory. It doesn't help that our civilisation is almost extinct now thanks to Cyclonis."

"That's horrible." said the crystal mage.

"It is." said Kanni. "But so long as one of us is left standing, the Avon culture is still alive."

Piper smiled at that. That was true. The Avons always had the chance to rebuild their culture once they were safe from Cyclonis.

* * *

Much later, everyone was back in the great hall. On one side of the room, there was a fireplace with large green crystals inside it that emanated warm emerald-colored flames. Misty and Snapper were curled up in front of it like resting birds, relishing the heat.

In the middle of the room, its long-side facing the fireplace; there was a long table made of dark silver metal with legs made of carved, green crystal. The table was almost covered in silver dishes, on which were piled bunches of food, none of which was native to Atmos. But it all looked delicious. Unfortunately, Junko and Finn ruined everyone's appetites by cramming as much food as they could possibly fit into their mouths, making rather unpleasant noises as they ate. Aerrow, seeing this, winced and moved his torso slightly away from the two while Radarr just looked on in baffled astonishment.

At the sight, Piper covered her eyes with her hands, unable to stand the embarrassment. They hadn't been seated for even 10 minutes and they were already showing off their dreadful manners. She looked to her right and saw Aaliyah looking on with the tiniest hint of amusement on her face.

"I am so sorry about them-" she started, but Aaliyah cut her off.

"No need to apologize." the Avon said. "Avons don't use utensils anyway. Look at Cassiel." she added, pointing to the other end of the table.

Piper looked…and kinda wished she hadn't. Cassiel was holding two very large meaty drumsticks (not chicken) and was crunching into one very loudly. After chewing his mouthful for a bit, he stuck the other drumstick (up to the bone) in his mouth, and when he pulled it out again, there was hardly any meat left on it. Stork, seeing this, gingerly pushed his plate (for he had served himself) away from him.

"I think I've lost my appetite." he said.

"At least you're not sitting next to him." Ash said to the merb, flicking away a piece of flyaway meat that had landed on his cheek.

Stork thought about it, then said:  
"Good point."

Kanni, who always seemed to eat as barbarously as Cassiel, picked up a red lizard-like creature and bit half of it off.

"Show, fawt elsh do you fwant chou know?" she asked while crunching.

Everyone stared, dubious. Next to Kanni, Opal, who was sipping from a large bowl of creamy white soup, explained:  
"She said "So, what else do you want to know?"."

"I know one thing I'D like to know." said Ash, turning his gaze to Piper. "Do you still have crystal mages on Atmos? Ours have all been wiped out."

Everyone's eyes opened wide. Piper gasped in shock.

"What…What do you mean your crystal mages were…wiped out?" she asked.

Kanni turned to her, concern on her face. She swallowed her mouthful and said:  
"Well, I don't want to scare you or anything, but they all…well…"

She made a slitting motion across her neck, and everyone understood. Finn and Junko gulped, clutching their own necks. Aerrow looked at Piper, worried. But Piper's eyes were on Kanni.

"How?" she asked.

"It was all because of this strange ability they had." Kanni explained. "They would shoot this beam of light at somebody, and then that other person became, like, super-strong or super-fast or was able to shoot fireballs or something. I once read about a crystal mage powering an entire army of Avon warriors like that. But, the problem was, every time they used that power, they got weaker and weaker until, one day, they just…"

At that, she clutched her heart, then pretended to go limp against her chair, sticking her tongue out to simulate a corpse. Piper flinched. Aerrow reached over and placed his hand protectively on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her, but there was a fear in his eyes like when he'd seen Piper fall from Cyclonia mere hours ago.

"You mean…the Binding?" Piper asked Kanni, her voice faint.

Kanni sat back up and nodded.

"Yeah, but no one's used it in years." she said reassuringly, smiling. "I'm surprised that you even know its name! I mean, it's not like you're using it…"

Piper bit her lip and looked away. Kanni's smile faded.

"You aren't using it, right?"

The crystal mage nodded. Kanni gave her a look full of pity.

Just then, there was an explosion outside the temple that shook the whole room. The dragons woke up with startled yelps (they had dozed off in front of the fire). Opal rushed over to the window, followed by Misty, and looked out. Misty let out several frightened squawks and growls. When Opal turned back to the others, her blank eyes were full of fear.

"It's the nightcrawlers!" she said. "They're back! And they're trying to destroy the temple!"

Somehow, there was indeed an army comprised of dozens of nightcrawlers attacking. They were led by the red-eyed nightcrawler commander. He looked at his soldiers, who were all flying with large bat-like wings, and pointed down at their target. At his command, they all blasted red beams of energy at the temple. Aerrow, Piper and Cassiel watched, eyes and mouths open wide in horror as large cracks broke through one of the towers, causing it to fall and crash to the ground in an explosion of dust and rubble.


	4. Ep 53 Pt 4

**Welcome to the Far Side (part 4)**

* * *

The temple of Emera was surrounded by a black cloud of nightcrawlers. They attacked mercilessly, and more towers started crumbling. Meanwhile, the storm hawks and Avons flew along one of the tunnels connecting the main tower to the other parts of the temple.

"Kanni! Ash! Cassiel! Help me provide a distraction for those nightcrawlers! Opal! You get the defenses working! The temple won't last much longer if the force field isn't activated!" Aaliyah ordered as she unsheathed her daggers and activated them.

"Wait! What about us?" Junko asked.

"You can help by providing some cover for Opal." Aaliyah barked, before she took off in a grey-feathered blur.

The other Avons followed right behind her.

"All right guys, let's go!" Aerrow said.

He started to run, but Piper put hand on his shoulder.

"Aerrow!" she said.

The boy stopped and looked at her.

"I'm going to help the Avons." she said.

Aerrow looked a bit shocked.

"But Piper-"

"Aerrow, they are facing an entire army of nightcrawlers! They can't do it on their own."

"Then I'm coming too!"

Piper shook her head.

"No. The others need you."

"But what about the Binding?!" Aerrow exclaimed. "You heard what Kanni said about their crystal mages! I can't lose you like that!"

Piper blinked. She'd never seen Aerrow look so frantically concerned about her as he did now. He was almost shaking. It was clear that the thought of losing Piper was frightening to Aerrow. He cared about her so much; it was funny that Piper had never noticed before. She put a hand on his cheek, and spoke softly:  
"Aerrow, I'll be okay. I know what Kanni said. I'm scared about it too. But whatever it was the Binding did to me is over. I don't feel sick or weak anymore."

She smiled.

"I'll be fine."

Aerrow let out a breath. He still didn't look totally convinced, but Piper saw that her words had worked. He started to turn around to follow the other storm hawks when he looked back at her and said:  
"Just be careful, okay?"

Piper almost laughed at the irony; normally, that was the sort of thing she would tell him when he was going to do something reckless and dangerous.

"I will." she said.

Aerrow then smiled, nodded, and ran to catch up with the other storm hawks. Piper waited until he had gone, then took a few crystals from her pocket.

'Let's just see what these can do.' she thought as a blue aura enveloped her and she took off after the Avons.

* * *

As Aerrow and the others ran after Opal and Misty, they could hear the explosions and feel the thunder-like rumbles of the nightcrawlers' attacks. There were flashes of light as they blasted at the temple, and more cracks shot through the surface of the stone structure.

"It probably won't be long until they break another tower!" Opal called over her shoulder.

Just then,

BOOM!

A blast (more precise than the rest) did indeed cause another tower to fall, sending out a shockwave that practically shook the rest of the temple. Opal and the boys flung an arm out to shield their eyes, and Misty placed a protective wing around them, hiding her own face with her other wing. When they looked again, the nightcrawlers and their black dragons were swarming around the temple in their hundreds.

* * *

"Time to show them what we've got Avons!" said Cassiel, swinging his two energy axes.

He yelled out a tremendous battle cry as he charged forward. And the battle commenced. He swung his two axes around, knocking the wind out of two nightcrawlers and sending another hurtling far away, howling.

Snapper darted around and Kanni, on his back, twirled and whirled her staff this way and that, whacking nightcrawlers in the face and blasting bolts of green crystal energy at several enemies. Meanwhile, Ash was starting to glow bright blue. He pointed his staff at a nightcrawler, creating several ice-colored replicas of the staff which rained down on the poor enemy, leaving a trail of ice-like fire behind them like a hail of icy comets. The nightcrawler yowled with pain and plummeted down, its wings shot through with more holes than a block of Swiss cheese.

Piper grinned at the sight. But she heard a roar, and she turned her head and gasped. 3 nightcrawlers were chasing her, their eyes blazing and their weapons pointed at her! She flew forward, making a great loop. The shadowy enemies followed her, then she turned around and slashed her green crystal through the air. It sent a shockwave of blue energy at the soldiers, causing them to fall toward the ground.

"Nice move crystal mage!" called Aaliyah from a distance.

"Thanks!" Piper replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, the others were running straight towards a very small building attached to the temple, spherical in shape. Inside, Misty guided Opal to face a desk covered with various buttons and controls. She ran her hand over the surface but quickly retracted it because of a spark of power.

"We might have a problem here." she said. "The attack seems to have damaged the controls for the force field."

"Well, have you got any other weapons to beat 'em with?" Finn asked.

"The only other thing we have is the catapult, but we've run out of ammo during our last battle when Kanni was gone." said Opal.

"Well we've got to try and help the others somehow!" Aerrow said, his brow furrowed with frustration.

"But we can't!" said Junko. "We dropped our weapons in the caves below the temple!"

"True, but we still have one big weapon left!" said the leader, his eyes lighting up. "Stork, Finn, Junko and Radarr: you guys go back into the caves from the great hall and get our weapons. Find Piper's staff too. Then fire up the Condor and get back here pronto!"

"But what are you gonna do?" asked Finn.

"I'm going up there to help the others." said Aerrow.

"But they're up in the air! You'll need wings to help them fight!"

"I think I can help with that." said Opal.

* * *

Thanks to Misty's guiding, Opal led the sky knight to a stable. Inside, there were lots of dragons. All of them were rather agitated from the attack. Aerrow couldn't help but stare.

"Are you letting me ride a dragon?" he asked Opal as she coaxed one of them outside.

It was a female, silver scales, white horns and bright blue eyes.

"You have to." said Opal. "Or you'll never get up there. Anyway, this here is Silver Streak. She's the fastest of the bunch."

Aerrow was in awe of the she-dragon. She was larger than Snapper and Misty, but not quite as big as a fully-grown dragon. Slowly, he reached out a hand and placed it on her muzzle. The dragon let out a snuffle at his touch, but didn't back away. Finally, the sky knight broke out of his trance.

"Okay, so, how do we ride dragons?" Aerrow asked, grabbing hold of the silver dragon's reins, held out to him by Opal.

"It's easy." said the blind Avon. "It's like riding one of those machines you atmosians build. Oh," she frowned, searching her memory for something. "What are they called again? Not the ships but the…um,"

"Sky rides?"

"Yes! Like a sky ride! Only, it's alive, and has a mind of its own. And some of them don't like being told what to do. But Silver Streak's pretty manageable, so you shouldn't have any problems with her." Opal added.

Aerrow tried to mount the dragon, but just fell back on the ground, having slid off the dragon's back. The silver dragon made a confused rumble, looking concerned at her rider. Huffily, Aerrow stood up, dusted himself off, and tried again. He was about to fail again when the dragon caught the back of his shirt between her teeth. Aerrow stared at her in disbelief as she gently lifted him onto her back by the scruff of his neck, as though he was a kitten. Once settled on the dragon's saddle, he smiled and patted the dragon on the neck. She let out a happy growl.

"All right, let's go!" Aerrow said.

"Good luck!" Opal called as Aerrow flicked their dragons' reins.

The she-dragon crouched, spread her wings and launched herself into the air!

* * *

Back in the temple, Finn, Stork, Radarr and Junko reached the great hall.

"We made it!" Finn said, panting from their long run. "Now…we just need to find the thingamajig…that'll activate the trap door…get our weapons…then find the Condor…and kiss those nightcrawlers bah-bye!"

"Great!" said Junko, thoroughly out of breath. "Now…how do we activate the trap?"

Finn paused, looking around the room for a sign.

"Uhhhhh…" he said.

"You forgot how, didn't you?" said Stork.

Finn nodded guiltily. Stork shrugged and approached a waist-high statue. He turned to the others.

"Just as well," he said. "I remember which one it is. And it's this one."

He pressed the large diamond on the dragon's forehead. A second later, the floor opened up and they all fell into the tunnel. When the finally reached the pitch blackness of the cave, there was a loud crash as they banged into each other upon landing.

"Great, now we can't see. How're we going to find the weapons now?" Finn complained.

"OUCH!" Junko cried. "I stepped on something! Something metal!"

He picked it up.

"I think it's your crossbow, Finn!"

"Really? Pass it over!"

Junko passed the object to Finn. The sharpshooter examined it.

"It is my crossbow! And there's a thunderbolt in it!"

"How's that going to help?" asked Stork with his usual pessimism.

"It's time to shed a little light on our situation!" said Finn.

He closed one eyes, aiming for the ceiling. When he shot the arrow, it exploded against the stone above, creating enough for light for Radarr to spot something. He screeched and picked up the metal object.

"Piper's staff!" said Junko, picking it up.

It was retracted, so it fit easily in his palm.

"Alright! Now let's get out of here and charge up the Condor!" said Finn.

The others nodded and ran down the tunnel. Within moments, they reached the giant rune/launchpad trap. Radarr lept onto the lever and swiftly pulled it down. The trap threw the boys up and out of the dark tunnel, screaming as they went. When it closed again, they landed heavily on the ground.

"I'm really starting to hate that trap." Finn groaned.

But they didn't have time to mope. Junko picked up the blond and held him under his arm as the three ran to find the ship.

* * *

Up in the green sky, Commander Nite chuckled. Soon, he and his squad of nightcrawlers would have turned this temple to so little as pebbles and dust. But his train of thought was suddenly thrown off the tracks when he heard:  
"Hey! Over here!"

And he turned his head in time to see an Avon toss two solar crystals in his direction. The two powerful stones flashed so brightly, it was like the sun had exploded. Not even the nightcrawlers' upgrades could protect them against that strong a blast. They hissed and growled angrily, covering their eyes from the hated light. One of them even tried to fly away, only ending up crashing into a fellow nightcrawler, causing the two to fall like downed talon switchblades.

"Woo-hoo!" Kanni cheered, and then she put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Snapper!" she called her dragon.

The green-scaled reptile looked up like an eager hound ready for the hunt.

"Sick 'em!"

It was all he needed before he started tearing after the black figures. They howled in fright and scattered as Snapper chased them, snapping his teeth like a steel trap (apparently, there was a reason he was named Snapper).

"Nice!" Ash said, giving a high-five to the girl.

The crimson-eyed commander growled and yelled out to his soldiers:  
"Get them!"

But they were met head on by the Avons. Cassiel grabbed two nightcrawlers and banged their heads together, cartoon style. Grabbing his axes, he flew at another nightcrawler. He lunged with his right hand, and the nightcrawler blocked with his crystal gauntlet. The two were locked together, staring at each other for several moments while the sound of metal screeching on crystal resounded. Cassiel then pulled away so suddenly it left the nightcrawler dazed. His mistake, as it turns out, because Cassiel chose that moment to punch the nightcrawler squarely in the face. The stunned nightcrawler spun around like a ballet dancer, before Cassiel hit him a blast from both of his axes, and he plummeted from the sky.

Meanwhile, Piper was in a bit of a fix. The nightcrawlers had seemed to take a liking to chasing her, no matter how much she blasted at them with her crystals. As she sent 2 of them plummeting to the ground with her green crystal, she panted heavily and wiped her forehead.

"Phew!" she said. "That was close. Too close."

Just then, disaster struck. A nightcrawler had spotted the crystal mage, who had let her guard down. He smiled, aimed his gauntlet and fired a red blast at her. Piper didn't have time to react and was hit full-on by the blast. She lost her crystal. And without the crystal's power, she could no longer fly, and she started to tumble down in a free-fall, screaming. Spotting her, Aaliyah dove and tried to catch her, but Piper was falling at the speed of a bullet, and there was no way she could keep up.

"This is it!" Piper said, panicking. "Goodbye cruel world!"

As she prepared for the crash, a silvery streak shot past and…She wasn't falling anymore.

Piper opened her eyes.

"I believe someone called for Air Sky knight!" a voice cheerfully said.

"Aerrow!" Piper gasped, relieved, looking up at him.

The boy grinned and pulled her up so that she was sitting behind him on the silver dragon's back.

"Thanks!" Piper said. "I thought I was done-for!"

The silver dragon plunged toward the nightcrawlers, releasing a great burst of fire. Aerrow whooped as they flew through the flames, completely unhurt, while the nightcrawlers scattered. Suddenly, they surged back up, even angrier than before. They surrounded Snapper, Silver Streak and the Avons like a swarm. The red-eyed nightcrawler chuckled.

"Any last words?" he asked, raising his blood-crystal gauntlet.

Aerrow had just taken out one of his blades, hesitating about whether or not to attack when the familiar sound of an air horn drew all of their attention.

It was the Condor! It rose dramatically out of the clouds! And Junko and Finn were manning the canons!

"Hi guys!" Junko called, waving at them.

"Junko!" the others cheered happily.

"We've got everything covered!" called Finn. "You guys just get out of the way!"

He and Junko began firing blast after blast at the nightcrawlers. Each one downed one of the black soldiers, which made some start to retreat. Forget destroying the temple; they needed to save themselves, no matter what Cyclonis said! Others, however, stayed and fought it out with the Avons. But they never had a prayer. Kanni quickly downed 2 with her "Wind Blades", Aaliyah took out 5 more with a move resembling Repton's, and Cassiel took out an entire wave of nightcrawlers by unleashing a wave of red crystal energy from his axes (a move he called "Red Fury"). However, it seemed as though Ash was having trouble. He was dodging nightcrawlers and their crystal blasts left and right. He wasn't as fast as Aaliyah or as strong as Cassiel or as agile as Kanni. But he managed to avoid getting singed. He fluttered his weary wings to try to hover in one spot for a bit, panting.

"Ash!" Cassiel called to him. "Are you alright there?"

"Yeah Cassiel. I'm fi-"

He didn't even finish the sentence when a nightcrawler blasted him squarely in the wing! Ash cried out in pain and fell from the sky like a stone, a gash in his black wing trailing smoke.

"ASH!" Kanni cried.

She flew towards the falling Ash at tremendous speed, catching him by the hand and swooping up with him just in time!

"Th-thanks Kanni." Ash said weakly, grinning feebly at her, almost in the way Aerrow would at Piper.

Kanni smiled back at him, mirroring Piper's expression when she would look at Aerrow.

"No problem." she said. "Everything okay?"

"Well, my wing's mangled, and I've got a broken arm. But other than that, I think I'll be alright."

The carrot-haired Avon lifted the limp boy onto her shoulder. She flew over to the Condor, followed by Cassiel, Snapper and Aaliyah.

On the Condor, the three Avons were greeted by Radarr, Junko and Finn. They were then joined by Misty and Opal, who had brought some turquoise crystals with her.

"These healing crystals should take care of your wing." she said, placing them over Ash's injury. "But no flying for you for a few days."

"Wait," said Kanni, looking worried. "Where are Aerrow and Piper?"

The others looked worried as they realised that the sky knight and crystal mage were missing. Radarr then spotted them and pointed, screeching. Finn, Junko and Stork were the first to crowd around and look anxiously at the sight.

* * *

Silver Streak was being pursued by 10 nightcrawlers, and Aerrow was trying his best to pilot her away from them. It was no good. They were surrounded. He pulled the reins and Silver Streak flew up, up, up. The nightcrawlers, of course, followed.

"Aerrow! They're gaining on us!" Piper said, a more-than-worried tone in her voice.

"Don't worry." Aerrow said, trying to sound confident, although he felt no such thing. "They'll have to give up eventually."

Wrong. And to prove that, the nightcrawler commander blasted at them. It hit Silver Streak's legs, and she let out a painful yowl.

"Never mind!" Aerrow said, pulling the reins to one side.

The dragon swerved and dove down, toward the stone temple. But then, another red blast hit the three, sending Aerrow, Piper and Silver Streak flying in different directions. Silver Streak used her talons and the claw on each of her wings to dig into the side of the temple. Despite how sharp and tough those claws were, it took her a while to stop falling, leaving long claw marks. She hung there, clinging to the stone of the tower.

Aerrow and Piper were not as prepared as the dragon. Aerrow crashed against the hard, unforgiving rock of the largest tower. Thankfully, he happened to have landed close to an extension of stone that connected the seeker tower to another smaller one, and he held onto it. Grunting in effort, the boy pulled his body up so that his torso rested on the stone. He looked around, worried. Where was Piper? Had she landed somewhere safe? Or had she fallen to the ground?

Just as he'd formulated the thought, he saw the crystal mage collide into the wall and fall onto a small balcony right below her. He drew in a sharp breath, thinking she'd been hurt or knocked unconscious in the crash, for she was still and unmoving. To his relief, Piper raised her head, looking dizzy and battered, but at least she was alive.

He didn't have long to celebrate though, because he heard a loud, ferocious hiss. He gasped: a nightcrawler had spotted him! And he was pointing his crystal gauntlet right at Aerrow, helpless and unable to do anything to save himself. He had no glider, he couldn't let go of the stone extension or else he'd fall, right to his death no doubt. But he was about to anyway, unless the nightcrawler decided to blast him mid-drop. Piper, still feeling the after-shock from the crash, looked over to see the nightcrawler pointing the blood-crystal weapon at Aerrow. She gasped.

"Aerrow!" she cried.

The nightcrawler blasted. It struck the stone Aerrow had been holding and sent him falling.

"No!" Piper wailed, trying to reach out to Aerrow as though she could catch him.

Then, she did the only thing she could think of: she pulled her hand to herself, digging up the energy inside her and:  
"Lightning Strike!"

A beam of blue light shot from her outstretched hand and caught Aerrow, enveloping both of them in an aura of sky blue light. It halted Aerrow's fall instantly.

On the Condor, the Avons gasped. Even the other storm hawks looked shocked. They never got used to seeing Aerrow and Piper doing the Binding.

"Is…Is that…what I think it is?" said Ash.

"It can't be!" Aaliyah whispered.

Cassiel smiled.

"I think it is!" he said jubilantly.

Aerrow blinked open his eyes. He stared at himself, then up at Piper. Even after what she'd said to him, he couldn't believe that she was risking the dangers of the Binding like this! But he noticed that, despite her dizzyness, she was still as strong as ever. She was even smiling at him, her eyes bright and alive. And it hit him: it really was over. As she'd said whatever the Binding had done, it was over now. Aerrow had heard it, but now he really believed it.

He turned over to the nightcrawler that had shot him, and grinned. The nightcrawler gulped. This was going to hurt. Aerrow didn't disappoint. He pulled back his fist and WHAM! The nightcrawler was blasted away as though shot from a rocket launcher. The other nightcrawlers were just as unlucky. Aerrow flew after and, using the power if the Lightning Strike, blasted them down one by one. Piper also helped by shooting down the last few with her crystal.

On the Condor, everyone cheered and whooped. The temple was saved! They'd done it!

* * *

The sun rose, chasing away the night. Standing in front of the Emera temple, underneath a light green sky, the storm hawks and Avons smiled at one another. Ash had his wing bandaged and his arm was in a sling, but he still beamed happily. The dragons stood dutifully behind the Avons, all wearing pleased expressions.

"Storm hawks, you've saved Terra Emera." Cassiel said. "How can we thank you?"

"There's really no need-" Aerrow started, before Finn nudged him.

"Um, aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, pointing at something over his shoulder.

Aerrow looked. In the open door to the hangarbay, he saw the broken and smashed remains of their sky rides.

"Well," he said. "I guess maybe you could fix our rides."

He gestured to them with an apologetic grin. Cassiel looked confused.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, wouldn't you rather have dragons? They make fine steeds."

Finn and Stork looked at Snapper, who just rumbled in a friendly manner. The sight of him made Finn yelp like a frightened dog and hide behind Junko. Stork zoomed behind the wallop and joined Finn in his trembling state of fear.

"I think we'll just stick to sky rides." Piper said.

The bearded Avon shook his head.

"Choosing a bunch of machines over dragons? I'll never understand Atmosians."

Everyone broke into peals of laughter at that statement.

"Now, you two," Cassiel said to Aerrow and Piper. "Were my eyes deceiving me, or were you using the Binding not too long ago?"

"Yes, we were, but could you tell us more about it?" Piper asked.

Aerrow nodded in agreement.

"We couldn't." Opal said. "There's so little that's known about it, what with no more crystal mages to use it."

"But there is someone who can help you." said Aaliyah.

"There is?" Piper said eagerly.

Aaliyah nodded.

"She's called the Grandmaster." she said. "She's a warrior trainer here in the Far Side and supposedly an expert on the Binding. Not many have seen her, but she's known to be very powerful. You'll find her on Terra Draco Minor."

She then took something out of his pocket. It was an crystal-map

"Here." she said. "Without your time-pulse, you'll need something to help you navigate. It might even help on the other side."

"Thank you." Aerrow said as Piper took the compass-like object.

* * *

Far away from Terre Emera, the red-eyed Commander Nite entered a large castle made from the same stone as the Emera temple. He'd barely managed to escape before the rest of his troops had been beaten by Aerrow and Piper.

He entered a room rather similar to Cyclonis's throne room back on Cyclonia. Standing on a small elevation before him, her back turned, was Cyclonis, looking down at a table. On the table, there was an crystal-map, except the hologram it produced was purple. She was glaring at it, almost as though the concentration of her violet eyes could pierce a hole in the map.

"Master…" the commander hissed softly.

Cyclonis turned.

"Commander Nite," she said. "How did your mission fare?"

"Poorly."

"You mean the storm hawks are still alive?"

Commander Nite nodded, expecting punishment. The young empress turned back to her map, staring at it in silence for several moments, then finally sighed.

"No matter."

Nite looked up, surprised.

"But, Master…I have failed you…"

"Indeed you have." said the raven-haired girl, descending the stairs and walking past Nite towards an open balcony. "But perhaps I had underestimated how strong a support the Avons would provide for the storm hawks. Since they are seeking allies, perhaps we should seek some as well."

* * *

"After all…" said the empress.

As she spoke, a serpentine shadow crawled across a rocky terrain. It opened one huge purple crystal eye, staring out at some imaginary prey (the screen), blinking slowly.

"…we aren't alone here in the Far Side."


End file.
